December 12, 2017

An epidemic that no one is talking about and simple ways to contain it

By Tanya Patterson

The statistics regarding burn out and substance abuse among lawyers are staggering. Up to 20% of lawyers abuse drugs while only 8-10% of the general population do so. In a February 2016 study published in the Journal of Addiction Medicine, 27% of attorneys reported mild or higher levels of depression while only 6.7% of adults in the general population reported suffering from such. In the Journal of Addiction Medicine study, nearly 23% of participants reported that they felt their use of alcohol or other substances had been problematic at some point.